Newsletter: A Look Back at the 2025-26 Academic Year |
Welcome to the GW Animal Law Program's newsletter! We are excited to share highlights from some of our memorable events from this past academic year. We can’t fit all our events and activities into this newsletter but want you to have a sense of our work. For more information about the program, visit our ALEI and Animal Law Program webpages. For recordings from all our events, visit our YouTube Channel.
Kathy Hessler, Joseph and Rosemary Todino Assistant Dean, Animal Law, and Director of the Animal Legal Education Initiative (ALEI)
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Team Changes Announcement |
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We would like to thank Anna Falcione for her contributions and assistance to the Animal Law Program in Academic Year 2025-2026. We are pleased that we’ll still be able to work with her at the law school and are excited for her new roles!
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| Welcome Sahana Ramdas to Our Team! |
Sahana joins us as an Animal Law Fellow and Program Associate, supporting our legal education initiatives and the GW–Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics & Law partnership. Dual-qualified in New York and India, she holds LL.M. degrees in Animal Law (Lewis & Clark), Global Environmental Law (Pace), and General Law (SUNY Buffalo), and brings over seven years of practice experience in litigation, animal law enforcement, and civil and criminal appeals. Her scholarship focuses on animal law’s intersections with environmental and public interest law. We are delighted to welcome her to the community.
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A Selection of Highlighted Events from Academic Year 2025-26
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Artificial Intelligence, Animals, and the Law Conference 2025 |
November 7-9, 2025
The Animal Legal Education Initiative (ALEI) co-hosted a three-day conference with Three Pearls Charities Inc.
The playlist for the full conference recordings is available on our YouTube channel.
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World Aquatic Animal Day 2026 |
April 3, 2026
The theme for this year’s World Aquatic Animal Day is The Human Gaze: Impacts on Aquatic Animals. We had 2 panels on Unseen, Unprotected & Underwater: Perspectives on Aquatic Animals and Transforming the Way we See and Treat Aquatic Life.
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National Commission on Research Ethics Meeting |
February 18, 2026
In this web meeting, members of the National Commission on Research Ethics discuss their work on a forthcoming report which uses a more-than-human context to update the Belmont Report principles designated by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research.
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Navigating the Crossroads of Animal Law and Global Disagreements |
February 11, 2025
We heard from GW Law alum Kitty Block, President and Chief Executive Officer and President of Humane World for Animals (formerly known as the Humane Society of the United States). Kitty discussed some of her long career in animal protection and her start at GW Law. Andrew Murphy, JD' 25, moderated the discussion.
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Launch Symposium for the Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Animal Law |
December 11, 2025
This virtual symposium, organized in collaboration with GW Law Animal Legal Education Initiative, marked the launch of the Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Animal Law, a pioneering reference work edited by Professor Joan E. Schaffner that brings together leading scholars and practitioners from around the world.
Contributing authors presented their chapters and reflected on key themes in global, comparative, aquatic, emerging, and foundational areas of animal law.
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Avoiding Pitfalls When Using Science in Animal Law and Policy |
November 21, 2025
Pitfalls students, lawyers, and other advocates should look out for when science is either not understood completely or is used incorrectly.
Science is an integral part of animal law. Law practitioners who are familiar with the basic tenets of science are at an advantage in litigation, and creating good legislation and policy. Yet legal wrangling can lead to the misuse of science. It is critical for animal law students to avoid the limitations and distortions of scientific information that can undermine their arguments and cases. In this webinar, we explored some of the pitfalls students and practitioners should look out for when science is either not understood completely or is used incorrectly.
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Addressing Harms from ICE Activity |
November 13, 2025
Increased ICE activity in our communities is having significant impact in both expected and unexpected ways. People are being arrested, detained, and removed often with no warning and no legal proceeding. This is devastating to families and communities left behind. Many times, the person removed is the primary financial support for a family. This can lead to tragic consequences for the people involved and has even led to an increase in families surrendering their companion animals because they can no longer afford to keep them. This panel addressed these issues from legal and personal perspectives.
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International Disputes in Animal Law: Dynamics of Global Conflict Cooperation
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October 2, 2025
Animals cross national boundaries. Likewise, animal legal issues are not confined to individual countries. As challenging as animal law can be within countries, the complexities increase when more than one country is involved. The panel of experts discussed the different ways to manage international animal law matters. Alice DiConcetto, Jessica Tselepy, and Michael Reese will share their experiences and lead the conversation.
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Adjunct Teachers in Animal Law Series |
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Adjunct, rather than full-time, law professors do the majority of animal law teaching in the U.S. and globally. Yet this community does not have the same access to academic resources and support as their full-time counterparts. That can make developing and maintaining animal law courses more challenging. This series is designed to remedy some of that inequity and offer support and resources to expand and improve animal law teaching.
Check out our webinars from this academic year!
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Assistant Dean for Animal Law Kathy Hessler is special editor of AI, Animals and the Law, a forthcoming issue of the Global Journal of Animal Law (2027). She is also co-author of a forthcoming publication on Aquatic Animals: Law, Science & Policy (2027). She wrote Salmon Hatcheries: Unsuccessful Conservation, Insufficient Regulation, and Poor Animal Welfare, published by FoodPrint (September 2025). A further article is forthcoming in the Journal of Animal Ethics on Hatcheries: Failing Conservation and Animals. Assistant Dean Hessler also published What’s Missing in Animal Welfare Efforts – Response to Water Breathing is a Blind Spot in Animal Welfare Science in Issues in Science and Technology (2026). She presented on Aquaculture Hatcheries: The Need to Protect Animals throughout the System, at the 10th annual Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics Summer School in Oxford, England in August 2026. She was a panelist on Justice for All: Integrating Animal Law into Judicial Education and Classrooms at the Animal Law and Advocacy Conference in Canada in September 2025. Assistant Dean Hessler hosted and moderated several of the events listed above. In addition to GW Law presentations, she moderated The Animals Missing from Legal Analysis panel at the The Association of American Law School 2026 Annual Meeting in New Orleans in January 2026. She was also quoted by and interviewed for media outlets, including Spectrum News (on legislation against dog breeding facilities in Wisconsin, Endangered Species Act, Farm Bill legislations, and Prop 12), Sentient Media, and Fish Farmer.
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Professor Joan E. Schaffner wrote a book review article for Animal Ethics and Animal Law: Examining the Struggles to Implement an Ethical Legal System for Other Animals (Journal of Animal Ethics). Ze's recent speaking engagements include: presenting Researching, Writing and Publishing in Animal Rights Law at the International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics (June 12, 2026); moderating a panel on Transformative Approaches to Thoughtfully Apply Professional Ethics to Animal Related Matters at the American Bar Association (June 15, 2026); serving as panelist on Pitching and Sustaining Animal Law Courses for the Animal Law Pedagogy Workshop at The George Washington University Law School (March 27-28, 2026); and presenting Animal Cruelty and Intimate Partner Violence: Judicial Recognition, Risk Assessment, and Lawful Intervention for the Conference on Enhancing Judicial Response to Intimate Partner/Domestic Violence at the Supreme Court of Virginia (March 24-25, 2026).
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Check our event page and social media for more news and updates!
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